Privacy Policy
Last updated: May 2026
Your Privacy Matters
Lithril ("we", "our", or "us") is committed to protecting your personal data. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and what rights you have.
By using the Lithril platform — including the mobile app, author portal, and website — you agree to the practices described here.
1. Information We Collect
We collect the following categories of personal data:
- Account information: name, email address, and password when you register.
- Profile data: display name, bio, and optionally your profile picture.
- Content: books, chapters, and other creative works you publish on the platform.
- Reading activity: books you read, progress, and reading preferences.
- Payment information: billing details processed securely via our payment provider. We do not store full card numbers.
- Device and usage data: device type, operating system, IP address, and app usage patterns.
- Communications: messages you send to our support team.
- Verification and tax data: government-issued ID, tax identification number (TIN), and supporting documents — collected from authors during the verification process.
- Website analytics and cookie data: language preference, session identifiers, consent choices, pages visited, and other browser events collected through cookies or similar technologies.
Verification and tax data is collected solely for compliance purposes and is stored securely with restricted access.
Some payment and fraud-prevention details are collected directly by Stripe or our banking and payout partners when you make a purchase, request a payout, or complete author verification.
2. How We Use Your Data
We use your personal data to:
- Provide, operate, and improve the Lithril platform.
- Process payments and manage subscriptions.
- Send transactional emails (registration confirmation, password reset).
- Personalise your reading and discovery experience.
- Respond to support requests.
- Analyse usage patterns to improve platform performance.
- Comply with legal obligations.
- Verify author identity and eligibility for payouts.
- Withhold and remit taxes on author earnings as required by applicable law.
- Prepare and submit tax reports to relevant tax authorities where required.
3. Data Sharing
We do not sell your personal data. We may share data with:
- Payment processors such as Stripe to handle transactions securely.
- Cloud infrastructure providers for hosting and storage.
- Analytics services to understand user behaviour in aggregate.
- Law enforcement or regulatory authorities when required by law.
- Relevant tax authorities — author tax identification data and withholding reports, where required by applicable law.
- Banking, payout, fraud-prevention, and compliance partners that help us settle transactions, verify identity, and prevent abuse.
All third-party processors are required to handle your data in accordance with applicable privacy laws.
We do not share personal data with third parties for their own cross-context behavioural advertising purposes.
4. Legal Basis for Processing
We process your personal data on the following legal bases:
- Contractual necessity — to provide the Service and fulfil our obligations to you.
- Legal obligation — to comply with applicable tax law, including tax withholding and reporting requirements.
- Legitimate interest — to improve the platform, prevent fraud, and ensure security.
- Consent — where you have given explicit consent, such as for marketing communications.
You may withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.
5. Data Security
We use industry-standard security measures to protect your personal data, including encrypted connections (HTTPS), access controls, and regular security assessments.
No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure. We promptly notify affected users in the event of a data breach.
Verification documents and tax identification data are stored in encrypted form with access restricted to authorised personnel only.
6. Data Retention
We retain your personal data for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide services. You may request deletion of your account and associated data at any time.
Certain data may be retained longer where required by law (e.g. financial records for tax purposes).
Tax-related records (withholding reports, verification documents, payout history) are retained for a minimum of 7 years as required by applicable financial and tax regulations.
7. Your Privacy Rights
Depending on your location, you may have the following rights under GDPR, UK GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, or other applicable data protection laws:
- Right of access — obtain a copy of your personal data.
- Right to rectification — correct inaccurate data.
- Right to erasure — request deletion of your data.
- Right to restriction — limit how we use your data.
- Right to data portability — receive your data in a machine-readable format.
- Right to object — object to processing based on legitimate interests.
- Right to withdraw consent — where processing is based on consent.
- Right to know — request information about categories of personal information collected, sources, business purposes, and categories of recipients.
- Right to non-discrimination — exercise your privacy rights without unlawful discriminatory treatment.
Please note: tax-related data may be exempt from erasure requests where retention is required by law. We will inform you if any exemption applies.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@lithril.com.
California residents may also designate an authorised agent to submit requests on their behalf, subject to verification requirements permitted by law.
8. Cookies
The Lithril website uses strictly necessary cookies for session management and language preference. We also use Google Analytics (GA4) to collect anonymous usage statistics (pages visited, session duration, approximate location by country). Google Analytics sets the cookies "_ga" and "_ga_*" on your browser, which persist for up to 2 years. No advertising or remarketing cookies are used.
The mobile app does not use browser cookies. It may use local storage for essential functionality such as keeping you signed in.
You can control cookies through your browser settings and, where available, our consent tools. Blocking strictly necessary cookies may affect site functionality.
9. Age Requirement
Lithril is intended for users who are 18 years of age or older. We do not knowingly collect personal data from minors. If you become aware that a person under 18 has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it.
10. Data Processing Location
Your data is processed and stored on servers located in the European Union. We do not transfer your personal data outside the EU unless required by law or with your explicit consent.
Where data transfers occur, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with GDPR and applicable data protection legislation.
11. Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please contact us:
We aim to respond to all privacy inquiries within 30 days.
If you believe your privacy rights under GDPR or CCPA/CPRA have been violated, please include your country or state of residence and the nature of the request so we can route it correctly.
12. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes via the platform or by email. The date of the latest update is shown at the top of this page.